On the TV ratings front, the stage is just about set for the start of the annual November "sweeps" in Chicago.

Sweeps months are important in the TV ratings world because local stations use those ratings to determine what rates they charge advertisers for air time on local newscasts and on programming elsewhere in the local line-up.

With one day to go in the October TV ratings book, all the local Chicago stations with a significant local news product have a good idea of their standing heading into sweeps month.

And from a ratings perspective, CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 has reason for concern as its 10 p.m. newscast has lost nearly a full rating point year over year. With one day to go, Channel 2's 10 p.m. news had notched a 4.8 rating down from a 5.7 a year ago Monday through Friday.

The ratings slump at Channel 2 comes a year into Marty Wilke's tenure as the station's general manager. A longtime fixture at Tribune Co.-owned WGN-Channel 9, Wilke has made few if any major adjustments in the station's flagship 10 p.m. news product, with Rob Johnson and Kate Sullivan still seemingly firmly entrenched as lead anchors. Wilke has so far declined requests to be interviewed about her vision for the station and its news operation.

At Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32, nothing seems to change in the bottom-rated station's news ratings story even as everything and everyone seem to be in a state of constant upheaval in the news department. Just in the past week, Robin Robinson has been booted from her role as longstanding co-anchor of the flagship 9 p.m. newscast, and Anna Davlantes is exiting the station after Channel 32 General Manager Dennis Welsh decided to go with a completely new morning news show anchor team of Jon Kelley and Melody Mendez.

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